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Farscape episode
“...Different Destinations”
Destinations
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 05
Guest star(s) Tammy MacIntosh (Jool), Lucy Bell (Nurse Kelsa), Basia A'Hern (Cyntrina), Marshall Napier (General Grines), Dan Spielman (Sub-Officer Dacon), Terry Serio (Colonel Lennok), Alan Cinis (Officer Tarn)
Writer(s) Steve Worland
Director Peter Andrikidis
Production no. 10305
Original airdate April 13, 2001 (US); September 24, 2001 (UK)
Episode chronology
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"Self-Inflicted Wounds - Wait for the Wheel" "Eat Me"

An accident sends the crew back in time, where they must correct the events they have altered while the fate of a planet hangs in the balance.

Synopsis[]

Moya is orbiting a planet while being repaired. John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Ka D'Argo, Stark, and Jool are down on the surface, which is the location of a peace memorial from a great battle in Peacekeeper history. Crichton makes D'Argo put some goggles on, which allow them to see, through a time tear, events in the past as they unfold. Aeryn tells Jool that 30 Peacekeepers lost their lives defending a group of nurses and children from a group called the Venek Horde. Jool doesn't buy it though, and fobs it off as Peacekeeper propaganda for morons, but Aeryn tells her the man who made peace, Sub-Officer Dacon, is a hero among her people.

On Moya, Chiana finds Rygel in Zhaan's quarters, and both say they're there to steal whatever is left, but neither can bring themselves to want it. Meanwhile, Stark tells Crichton that Zhaan bought his new clothes for him, and says he no longer hears her voice. Crichton makes him put on the goggles, but he sees so much death, and is quickly overwhelmed, that the goggles and what's behind his mask interact and before they can remove the goggles a huge flash of light momentarily blinds them, and when they regain their sight, they see the old monastery, and Jool comments on how real it looks. Suddenly flaming arrows are shot over the wall, one of which pierces Jool's arm.

They run for cover, and Aeryn pushes the arrow through Jool's arm and out the other side. Crichton says that he thinks Stark's mask may have pulled them into the past, and D'Argo says that anything they change here may change the future. They're soon confronted by a group of Peacekeepers, prompting Aeryn to say that they're here as reinforcements. The commander, Officer Tarn, says that the Horde is jamming pulse weapons, so to grab a spear, when the Horde jumps the wall and a battle ensues. Officer Tarn and all the peacekeepers except Sub-Officer Dacon are amongst the many casualties on both sides.

On Moya, Pilot calls Chiana to command, saying that Moya just received a request from the planet to break orbit – written in basic Venek vernacular. Chiana says she thought the Venek abandoned the planet 500 cycles ago, and Pilot says that's what he thought too.

Crichton asks Aeryn what her data device says, which is that all but one Peacekeeper were wiped out, and that's what happened. She adds that Sub-Officer Dacon dies when he's on the wall sending the ceasefire message. She says that the Venek's General Grines saw how the battle went with only women and children left and is outside now convincing the other generals to offer a ceasefire. D'Argo goes to get Jool and Stark to find the time tear, and Aeryn tells Crichton that she's found her pulse pistol works. Dacon finds one of the Horde members alive, but when Crichton pulls back his hood he sees it is General Grines.

Jool is treated by a nurse for her arrow wound, saying the medicine is so good and taking a sip of it, only to find out that it's one part water and part Fellip urine! Aeryn goes to speak with Dacon, and asks if he's been an officer long, relaying some of his accomplishments. He reveals that Tarn was a noble man and always gave credit away; he is not a soldier, just a cook. He says he was scared he would be left as ranking officer, so he's glad she turned up, so she can take command.

Stark finds the tear, and D'Argo pushes a reluctant Jool into the wall, but she doesn't go through. He tries again, and she lands in mud. She sees that the memorial is gone, with the area long deserted with some Venek symbols draped over the walls. Jool screams to Stark that it's not the same here, but Stark already feels the billions dead. He doesn't want to find the tear anymore, and tells them that he felt thousands, millions, billions dead, but not the same ones he felt when they came through, causing Crichton to realise that they're changing the future. He says he has a plan, and Aeryn argues with him that it won't work, and that when the Horde attacks she'll show her way to get a ceasefire.

Jool is back on Moya annoying Chiana, when Pilot says that, apparently devastated by conflict, the planet is still inhabited, but by only a fraction of the population that was there before. He says Moya's data stores say that a vicious war claimed millions of lives, and Chiana comments that when they arrived here, the Horde had made peace in the past.

Aeryn talks with Dacon again, who says that the recruitment holochips never mentioned anything about dying. He asks Aeryn why she joined up, and she says she was born on a command carrier. He says it's no wonder she's fearless, but she says this is what Peacekeepers are meant to do – help the defenseless; so it's easy to be fearless. She says he'll be fine.

Crichton asks Grines why this place is so important, and Grines says that the Horde is bloodthirsty, almost uncontrollable, but he tries not to be. Their water supply has died out, and the mountain they're on is the source of the river, and the Horde will kill to get it. Grines says that whilst there are soldiers here, the Horde will not offer a ceasefire. Crichton says that there will not be any soldiers here when the Horde return. He says that he'll let Grynes go so long as the Horde do not harm the women and children.

D'Argo is talking to Kelsa, who says that they were attacked by the Horde while on a healing caravan, and the Peacekeepers found them and brought them to the monastery for safety, but they may have been safer had the Peacekeepers not found them. She asks if D'Argo knows what the Horde does to children, and says that she would rather her daughter be at peace than with the Horde, and asks if she can depend on him.

Cyntrina asks Stark why he was crying, and he says it's because of all the pain. She says that her father is dead, but she never cried, prompting Stark to hug her, and shed a tear.

Crichton dresses Grines up in woman's wear, to get him safely over the wall. He thanks Crichton, but as he's climbing out, he's shot dead by Kelsa, who calls Crichton a traitor. The nurses tie him up, and D'Argo and Aeryn are angry with him for going ahead with a plan without even discussing it with them. Kelsa wants to kill Crichton, but Stark tries to stop her. She doesn't believe that Grines was to make peace, but Cyntrina asks her mother not to kill anyone else. Crichton says that the Venek leaders are desperate to offer peace if the nurses give them a sign, and he promises they won't be hurt.

A communication from the Veneks is shot over the wall, and the general says that they could accept the death of their general in battle, but to disgrace him in female's clothes is not acceptable, and at dawn their severed heads will be nailed to the walls.

Later, as everyone considers their next move, Harvey appears Crichton, wearing cowboy boots and playing 'Home on the Range' on a harmonica, having been subconsciously summoned to help work out a way to restore the timeline. Harvey speaks of the elasticity of time – rather than timelines being fragile things like what is commonly believed, they're actually adaptable; if they get events close enough to what happened, the outcome is likely to be the same. However Harvey warns that the timeline will vector further away from the one they knew when the Horde attacks and won't make any suggestions about what they should do, he just tells Crichton to do better. Aeryn has convinced Dacon to record a message offering surrender, in hope that it'll work. Crichton tells her that a better way would be to let Dacon die, and when she says she doesn't want that, he says it's up to them to do something.

Kelsa visits Stark, and he asks how she felt when she shot Grines, and she says she felt fear and hate. Stark says fear is good, but forget the hate. She asks Stark if she dies, will she be with her daughter, and he tells her "different beliefs, different destinations", he can't tell until the end.

Cyntrina tells D'Argo that her father wasn't scary like D'Argo looks, and her mother says that when loved ones die, they must be remembered forever. She asks him if someone will remember her when she's dead and he tells her to make a mark in the stone to guarantee it, and hands her his knife to do so.

Dacon has recorded the message, and Aeryn goes up to fire it. Dacon says that he'll do it, as it'd be better for him to get hurt than her. As Aeryn and Crichton watch on knowing what is to come, Dacon goes up the wall to send the message. Aeryn tells him he's a soldier, a brave hero, but he denies it, and says heroes always get killed. As he throws the spear, he is shot by an arrow, and falls off the wall, dead. On Moya, the remaining crew discover that the planet is now completely lifeless, having been irradiated during the war.  

Stark can't find the time tear, when the Veneks begin to attack again. Aeryn is upset about Dacon, but Crichton convinces her to untie him. When Kelsa objects, Aeryn tells him that he also has a pulse pistol. Another battle ensues, as back on Moya, Pilot tells the others that the planet is gone, so Chiana goes out to look for them. The battle continues, with nurses and Veneks being killed all over the place. With so many dead, the Veneks end up retreating, which causes the time tear to reappear, with no deaths – they've restored the timeline. Before they leave, D'Argo says goodbye to Cyntrina, saying he may see her again when she grows up, Crichton tells Kelsa that the Horde won't attack if the soldiers are gone, and promises they'll be safe, and Aeryn goes and places Dacon's medal back on his body, then they all leave.

Chiana tells Aeryn about all the changes they witnessed on Moya, but now nothing's changed except one thing, and Aeryn says the tear is unstable – Stark tried but they can't go back and change things. Chiana asks if Crichton knows that, and Aeryn says yes, and she will get him back on Moya. She looks at the memorial, which shows all the nurses, most prominently Kelsa and her daughter Cyntrina, and then goes to Crichton, who says he screwed up. She says that they did the best they could, but he asks why they'd do that, what's the point? Her only answer is that there probably was no point, as we see through the goggles the Venek asking Kelsa and the nurses where the pulse weapons are, but when she says Crichton had them but they escaped, he says he needs to give the Horde something – they're bloodthirsty. As she calls for Crichton, the general cannot control the Horde, and all the nurses are slaughtered... the memorial no longer commemorates the peace, but instead the nurses that lost their lives. Crichton and Aeryn are left head-on-shoulder, as D'Argo takes one last look at the wall, and sees Cyntrina's mark.

Memorable quotes[]

  • "Well, need I say more? If you learned about it in military school, it's certain to be farko."

- Jool

  • "Bullfrell!"

- Jool

  • "I got shot at a peace memorial!"

- Jool

  • "John's right. If we change anything here, change the past, the future might not happen as it's meant to."

"Then we might not get back."
"So, we don't get back...but I'm not dying just so that things don't change."
- D'Argo, John Crichton, Aeryn Sun

  • "Hey, try not to kill anybody!"

"I'm not going to kill anyone...oh, but I might kill this guy."
- John Crichton, D'Argo

  • "Sorry, don't die, don't die!"

- John Crichton

  • "You know, if we did change things, it is possible that we could improve the future."

"With our record? You think that's gonna happen?"
"I guess not."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

  • "You made me drink piss?"

- Jool

  • "Well, that was obviously wrong."

- D'Argo

  • "Mud! You threw me in mud! Bastards, they shoot me, they punch me, they make me drink piss..."

- Jool

  • "As Zhaan always says, 'do right by the wrong, goddess helps us all along'."

"Feeling left out, D'Argo? We're the only ones who don't have voices in our head."
- Stark, Aeryn Sun

  • "When they attack again, I'll show you my way to get a ceasefire."

"God."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

  • "Without renewal, there's stagnation."

"Yeah? Well, I feel the same way about men, but I don't leave them lying around."
"Can't you ever play nice? I got shot with an epcus-infected arrow, you monochromatic little bitch."
- Jool, Chiana

  • "Those recruitment holochips never said anything about this."

"About what? Fighting with primitive weapons?"
"Dying. Knowing you're going to die. Having time to think about it."
"Well, as a soldier, you don't think about it."
"I'm a cook. I like to think about food."
- Aeryn Sun, Sub-Officer Dacon

  • "This is what peacekeepers are meant to do: help the defenseless."

- Aeryn Sun

  • "Your superiors sent you into battle without an understanding of the antecedents? You really are barbarians."

"No, we're Peacekeepers. Barbarians butcher children."
"Yes, the Horde is bloodthirsty, and almost impossible to control. I'm trying not to be a barbarian, and I've never harmed a child in my life."
- General Grines, John Crichton

  • "Yeah, bonnets are always a risk, but it's the little touches that put you over the wall."

- John Crichton

  • "Why didn't you tell us anything?"

"There wasn't time."
"Oh, like frell there wasn't...and since when do you make decisions for me?"
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

  • "I'm in a hell of a slump here. Everything I do just makes things worse."

"Well then...do better."
- John Crichton, Harvey

  • "He's not a soldier."

"I know that. But the way history unfolds, that doesn't stop him from taking an arrow."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

  • "Fear is good, keep that. But travel light. Forget hate."

- Stark

  • "If... we die, will I be with my daughter?"

"Different beliefs, different destinations...I cannot tell before the end. Should the worst befall, you will not be alone."
- Nurse Kelsa, Stark

  • "You're scary looking."

"You should have seen my father."
- Cyntrina, D'Argo

  • "You are a soldier... a brave hero."

"No, heroes always get killed. I'll be fine."
- Aeryn Sun, Sub-Officer Dacon

  • "I listened to you. I let a man die, and we changed nothing. Nothing!"

- Aeryn Sun

  • "Two guns, Aeryn, we only have two guns!"

"Well, make it look like more."
"How?"
"Well, keep firing running backwards and forwards, and pretend you're an army."
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna work!"
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

  • "Gone! The planet, it's gone!"

"It can't be gone; I was just there two arns ago. I got shot. I drank piss."
- Rygel, Jool

  • "And stop screaming! It is very, very irritating, and I don't want you melting anything."

- Chiana

  • "I'm gonna have a heart attack."

- John Crichton

  • "You're gonna be safe. I promise."

- John Crichton

  • "I screwed up."

"You... we did what we could."
"Why would they do that? What's the point?"
"There probably was no point."
- John Crichton, Aeryn Sun

Background information[]

  • Crais does not appear in this episode.
  • Virginia Hey is removed from the credits as of this episode.
  • A full-size courtyard was built on the lot for this episode, complete with sand and a giant statue. ("Cool Farscape Facts" - Starburst Edition DVD v3.1)
  • The makeup for Grynes was based on a "lion man" version of Sean Connery. ("Cool Farscape Facts" - Starburst Edition DVD v3.1)
  • When Harvey leans back and props his cowboy boots on the table, the name "ANDY" can clearly be seen on the bottom, as an homage to Pixar's "Toy Story". Ben Browder had written it on the boots. ("Cool Farscape Facts" - Starburst Edition DVD v3.1)
  • "Home on the Range" is played by composer Guy Gross, who was taught to play the harmonica as a child by his father. Wayne Pygram had to mime playing the harmonica as he didn't know what song would be used for the scene. ("Cool Farscape Facts" - Starburst Edition DVD v3.1)
  • Jool's behavior was suggested by Tammy MacIntosh, who thought that being drunk would be a good side-effect for the urine. ("Cool Farscape Facts" - Starburst Edition DVD v3.1)
  • Peter Andrikidis stated that the episode reminded him of the Back to the Future films, but with a much darker twist. ("Cool Farscape Facts" - Starburst Edition DVD v3.1)
  • The scenes on the battlements were high off the floor, close to fifteen feet up. ("Cool Farscape Facts" - Starburst Edition DVD v3.1)
  • Significantly, this is the first episode in which John is shown explicitly seeking Harvey's counsel regarding potential options (although Harvey declines).

Links and references[]

Starring[]

Guest stars[]

Guest cast[]

Puppeteers[]

Voice artists[]

References[]

arn; Astroboy; Banik; Bashama; Battle of Madizak; Blesma; bullfrell; command carrier; comms; Crockett, Davy; cycle; digipamphlet; dren; epcus; farko; fellip; fellip nectar; frell; General; Goddess of the Delvian Seek; Harvey; Home on the Range; Jocacean; Jocacean Memorial Planet; Kritland River; Laura Ashley; Luxan; microt; Montana, Tony; Moya; Opie; Peacekeeper; pulse pistol; pulse weapon; Qualta Blade; recruitment holochip; Scarface; Stykera; Sub-Officer; Tarsus VI; The Alamo; The Andy Griffith Show; Time tear goggles; Toy Story; tralk; transport pod; Venek; Venek Horde; Woody; Zotoh Zhaan;

External link[]

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